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Love Lessons From History's Great Seductresses

By Betsy Prioleau Updated: Oct 20, 2008
Betsy Prioleau
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The dating game is no walk in the park for women these days. As if the babe competition isn't tough enough and Mr. Right more elusive than ever, there are few operating instructions. What love advice, if any, can we get from the seductresses of the past?
A lot, it turns out. History's greatest enchantresses, women who ravished and captured quality men, knew a long-forgotten secret of fascination. From Cleopatra to the present, they practiced an almost identical love craft that's powerful, smart, and based on a timeless system of erotic artistry. And it's full of surprises.
Looks aren't everything
"
“Though beauty may jump-start male interest, it doesn't fire the jets.”
Though beauty may jump-start male interest, it doesn't fire the jets. To inspire real desire you need what the seductresses had: character, swank, and love smarts. The incomparable Josephine Baker, for example, couldn't have been plainer (buckteeth and a boyish build), but she understood passion. When seductresses described themselves, they boldfaced idiosyncrasies -- defects and all -- and strutted their stuff: "I've got sagging breasts and a low-slung ass," said one, "but I [have] a very high opinion of myself." And they didn't wait by the phone; they put it out there. Remember, "Venus favors the bold.
But how did they make sparks fly?
These seductresses all used the same erotic modus operandi. Chemistry, they knew, had less to do with appearance than mental magic. Which is not to say that they neglected sensuous turn-on's. On the love path, they deployed physical lures for maximum impact. They punched up fashion, body language, settings and the music of their voices. Cerebral charms, though, are where the action is. Every seductress worth her stag line put the big money on mind spells, the most important branch of the traditional love arts.
When a fascinator like Pauline Viardot worked the voodoo of her personality on men,
“no one could resist this 'very ugly' nineteenth-century opera diva.”
no one could resist this 'very ugly' nineteenth-century opera diva., including Ivan Turgenev, the literary Brad Pitt of his day. She sparkled with warmth and life, massaged egos, dispensed TLC, released inhibitions, threw delicious parties, and talked "like a princess." As an aphrodisiac, nothing beats the sorcery of conversation, especially spiked with wit. After all, Aphrodite is the "laughter-loving goddess."
Keeping the flame burning
If the mind is the supreme erogenous zone, the key to love madness is emotion-in-motion. Seductresses stoked desire into a passion through a continuous interplay of elate and sedate, delight and difficulty, intimacy and mystery. They spun men's imaginations like a top, traded in surprise and difficulty, and weren't afraid of the "no" word. Men don't want another over-easy pleaser, they want to labor for love. They want a one-in-a-million somebody who keeps them entranced, interested, and on their toes.
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A Yahoo! Contributor
Adding on to the previous comment, it seems that the bulk of Yahoo! articles are built around a very materialistic worldview that focuses on short-term individual gain. It spans both genders in the dating section, but it also plays out in the corporate/work articles about personal advancement and success strategies. I guess I take solace in the fact that the stories are so shallow and the advice is usually so poor that anyone who would put these ideas into practice would quickly be in for a reality check. It does say something about the Yahoo! administrators that they place their perceived audience on the level of hackish authors, therapists and advice columnists.
A Yahoo! Contributor
Thanks, Yahoo! Contributor, for showing that smart people leave comments on these columns too -- that&#39;s probably the most intelligent and well-phrased comment I&#39;ve read in the Yahoo! Advice section.
A Yahoo! Contributor
The most significant part of being seen as attractive is to be honestly attentive to him or her. Listen, listen, listen! Watch someone you know who is both liked by friends and attractive to new people. He or she pays intense attention to what the other person is saying. While engaging someone, they should be the sole focus of your attention. Simple eye contact (No glancing around, over the shoulder, etc.), & other body language: leaning forward...just a little, nodding, murmuring assent, slight head tilt...works wonders! And makes Both people feel good. Watch at any gathering, and the people who are most liked/successful very often aren&#39;t stunningly attractive...but they know how to make other people feel attractive by demonstrating they find the other person interesting, worthwhile, and thus almost always responsive in kind. Leave the ego at home if you want to be considered attractive.
A Yahoo! Contributor
I got more out of the comments than I did out of the article.
A Yahoo! Contributor
You guys are all right-on. This society is becoming materialistic and self-centered, and people seem to care more about flings, one-night stands, and &#39;scores&#39;, than any mature, fulfilling relationship. I&#39;d also like to add that most(or all) of the women mentioned were rich or famous, which is of course enough to get some guy in bed, but not much more. At the same time, although I wouldn&#39;t do that, whatever rocks your boat, and if they&#39;re happy, that&#39;s their business, although I still wouldn&#39;t use them as role models. (by the way, man speaking)
A Yahoo! Contributor
Yes, this article does talk about skills that were used in an advantageous way. BUT women could learn these things for many ways, depending on who the women IS. These articles can be used for good intentions as well. If you can imagine your girl friend or wife being able to make your blood boil and passion rise way past the &quot;honey-moon&quot;. If you have a women able to do this, you&#39;d be married soon if not already. From the womens&#39; perspective you have a man who means the world to you, why wouldn&#39;t you want him lusting for you until you two are old and fall apart instead of falling-out of love. I myself love to drive my husband crazy for many reasons; Bordom issue- if everything was normal he&#39;d get bord soon, Self satifaction- being able to please him by seduction is worth every effort to keep him happy, Distance- I plan to keep my husband happy for a long time, keeping him interested is what you need to worry about (not if someone is playing games). Because in real life everyone plays some games, even little innocent ones. If she is Cleopatra then you can imagine her uses of these skills. What I am saying is you have to &quot;see&quot; the woman for what see is; a love to please/tease from passion, or Cleopatra. You have to find out for yourself what you really want and if they are really that bad. ( Mr. Roger&#39;s life or your own) (psss... happily married and highly seductive for the right reasons, woman.)
A Yahoo! Contributor
I didn&#39;t learn a bloody thing... Then again, I&#39;m a mad Pimpette...
No Photo
The women that I have know that were masters of the art of seduction were the source of the most pleasure and the most pain.
A Yahoo! Contributor
I think Charles hit the nail on the head, and with such precision..
A Yahoo! Contributor
I would just like to say that I went out to look back at the pictures of the women discussed in the article and I personally (maybe I&#39;m just odd) don&#39;t think that they were that homely at all. On a second note I agree with others who wrote in saying that these women were self serving and often times manipulative, but I also feel that women can learn from this. Perhaps because these women were motivated to find their own path and have their own goals, they were that much more interesting and appealing to men.
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